California - Northern

[zooweemama]

It's time to get the banties into the coop. Should I do the whole 'drop them in at night' this weekend? Although my banties are small- some of the other chickens are only about 12 weeks old so they are not all 'big' and should be ok size wise. Frankly- I am most concerned about that banty rooster- he has some HUGE spurs and these bantams are NOT friendly/social. I am concerned about the bantams running off during the day but it's really too hot to keep ALL the chickens closed up for days on end. But if that is what I need to do...I will do that. Please advise?

ETA: or what if - in the morning i put the banties into the run and close the door and give them food and water. so they are in the run all day long- closed in. This does close the run off to my other chickens but they usually free range and hang out under the chicken tree next to the run anyway. that's sounds feasible right? then at night put the banties back into the coop for the night. If I do this how long should I be doing that for the banties so they know that is home?

 

[zooweemama]

Well here they are.After a long 4 month wait.

OH my. I REALLY like these. What are they? They are so neat and compact looking.

 

[zooweemama]

Lol Chickens are hilarious! Hope this makes someone else smile!

hahaha that's funny right there!

Oh, miss molly, and everyone else... guess what I found today in my jubilee orp pen?!!! although it looked like a silkie egg that could have been mistaken for goat poop in regard to size of expelled item to bird size, i am thinking I have my first jubilee egg!! I ran it over to my broody. i know, i shouldn't even try to hatch it but I couldn't help myself. I don't think it's even fertile. mister man in the pen seems to be a late bloomer and not very interested in his first love... we will see in just a few days. also my BLRWs blessed me with a couple of eggs as well. I even found one in my second SFH but I was thinking it may have rolled over from the BLRW pen because there has not been another egg since and that was almost a week ago, but there is at least an egg a day out of the wyandotte pen.

i started to make the list of what I am going to sell. so if anyone is wanting some chickens close to point of lay get ready... I need to make space. i'm thinking the silver laced wyandottes have to go, a pair of BC Marans, some orps, all the "mixed"chicks that I ended up with... about 5-7 of them out of 100 but they were all supposed to be pure.. makes me wonder... still trying to get the list down to 10 or less: who's on for sure?: cream legbars (still my favorite so far) laying like champs, cool look, blue egg, auto sex...they are the top of the list. rhodebars pretty much same reason and not as common so will be fun to work with, swedish flower hens ( i like the look, i like land race, like personality, not liking laying so far. we will see with my next batch but these first girls have been less consistent... still so pretty to look at and LOVE the variety. Brahmas: not sure which colors I'll end up keeping but I just love the look of these guys. They are so regal and just plain cool to watch. BLRW, so pretty and great personality. ORPs... here's where it all starts to go south. love the orps. love the look, so puffy and cool. flightier than i thought they would be.. but lemon cuckoo, lavender, BBS, jubilee, and gold laced.... gonna have to narrow down but how.... maybe the lavs and lemon cuckoos? so hard ... marans: i have wheaton and BBS copper marans. leaning toward a small group with a splash roo over my black hens and blue hens ( just love the egg color, have to have it!). Sussex: light, speckled. ah man 4 more pens really?! may say goodbye to the light and just keep a few layers to look at because they are cool.silkies, sizzles, polish... have to keep one pen of each at least but how to choose the color. the combos are endless. they are fun to look at, easy to sell, the manage to die or get killed a lot so you need to have extra. definitely some of the stupidest chickens out there but always my favorite to hold and cart around with me. funny think is in that brain fart i probably forgot 5-7 breeds that I am actively working with: yep here they come: MF leghorns, faverolles, hamburgs, want to add..

ok too tired, hitting the wrong keys...mental brainstorm over, CL adds time to get rolling!

You are BAD for my chicken math. Bad bad bad. I won't have ANY room for more chickens until we get rid of all these extra roos. I have a short list of breeds I need and a huge long list of wants. haha!

would anyone on this list be interested in three 4-week-old blue and lavender orpington chicks? the blue is definitely male, but best guesses so far about the two lavs is that they are pullets. I'm just realizing that a dozen birds is really the highest number i should have in my coop through winter (when they'll have to stay in more often), and with these three i currently have 15 -- plus i figure they might be more interesting to someone as a trio -- photos taken wednesday afternoon:


the blue boy




all three together

I got them from Deann Disilva at Just Struttin' Farm in Novato, and they should be absolutely gorgeous birds:
http://www.juststruttinfarm.com/breeds.html

they are MUCH larger than my other chicks, really are going to be impressive birds! please pm me if you are interested...

I LOVE Orps. I already have a rooster problem- sorry I cannot help!

Don't forget the show-quality speckled flock you're getting from me today!!!...or did I let that out of the bag to early?

Ohhhhh snap!! I told my dd about getting her some of your Polish next year and she is over the moon. Is it ok to trim their poms so they can see?

 

[CALI CHICK]

Is anyone elses girls NOT laying very good right now (or is it just my hens)??
1. Barred rock didn't lay anything for a week and has been giving only soft shelled (useless) eggs for the last few days. She has oyster shells same as all the chickens-but won't eat them!

2. Buff orpington was broody, which we finally broke, but hasn't given us an egg for 3 weeks!
3. Rhode Island Red has slowed down to maybe 4 a week.
4. Our silkie is actually winning the 'egg contest' right now, giving us an egg almost every day!

The other morning we wanted eggs for breakfast, so I sent my son on an egg hunt. He came back with a cute, little silkie egg. Well-that was breakfast for him. Nothing beats a fresh laid egg! It's pretty pathetic when you have 4 laying hens and you have to buy eggs at the store.

 

[ronott1]

It's time to get the banties into the coop. Should I do the whole 'drop them in at night' this weekend? Although my banties are small- some of the other chickens are only about 12 weeks old so they are not all 'big' and should be ok size wise. Frankly- I am most concerned about that banty rooster- he has some HUGE spurs and these bantams are NOT friendly/social. I am concerned about the bantams running off during the day but it's really too hot to keep ALL the chickens closed up for days on end. But if that is what I need to do...I will do that. Please advise?

ETA: or what if - in the morning i put the banties into the run and close the door and give them food and water. so they are in the run all day long- closed in. This does close the run off to my other chickens but they usually free range and hang out under the chicken tree next to the run anyway. that's sounds feasible right? then at night put the banties back into the coop for the night. If I do this how long should I be doing that for the banties so they know that is home?

A Necropsy will tell you what you need to do, so if you can't get to the store, send the body off with the husband and let him stop at a Fedex on his trip to Chico or whatever farm he is working at. Did you get the UCD Fedex account numbers? Megan said they will recharge you later at a big discount. For the two I have taken in there, I dropped them off.

The mud is probably not the problem but you never know.

Do the Bantum's get to see the other chickens? If not, you should put them either near the coop in a cage or put the cage in the coop. After a couple of days, put them into the coop at night.

If you keep them in the run and the run is open to the coop, they will usually head up to the roost by themselves. They will follow the other chickens up there. The roosters will call them too.

How many Duck eggs are you getting? My chickens are kicking into gear--They gave me 12 eggs yesterday which is the most yet.

Bye,

 

[egg-lady]

I'm glad the lavender orpington's are doing well. How is Suzy

and the other Hens you got from me...

Suzy is good. I let her out of the run in the mornings when I get home and sometime while I am at work she flies right back in and lays her eggs. I have the lav orps and other CL girls and mojority of roos in the front yard under a tree so they got the nice cool shade of these hot days. after i take a friend of mine her sizzles i raised for her and take roos out to sell and get a empty coop i am going to transfer everyone to the run and meet my big girls. Keep them spererate so they can meet so see how it goes.

 

[zooweemama]

Is anyone elses girls NOT laying very good right now (or is it just my hens)??
1. Barred rock didn't lay anything for a week and has been giving only soft shelled (useless) eggs for the last few days. She has oyster shells same as all the chickens-but won't eat them!

2. Buff orpington was broody, which we finally broke, but hasn't given us an egg for 3 weeks!
3. Rhode Island Red has slowed down to maybe 4 a week.
4. Our silkie is actually winning the 'egg contest' right now, giving us an egg almost every day!

The other morning we wanted eggs for breakfast, so I sent my son on an egg hunt. He came back with a cute, little silkie egg. Well-that was breakfast for him. Nothing beats a fresh laid egg! It's pretty pathetic when you have 4 laying hens and you have to buy eggs at the store.

I am just having issues in general! I have 4 Orps aged 24 weeks. No eggs yet. I have 11 ducks 20 and 23 weeks old- I get about 3 to 4 eggs a day. Ducks lay about 5 eggs a week on average. I should be getting a lot more eggs by now. I hope I have late starters and they aren't laying all those eggs on my pond. I want happy healthy ducks...but I want some payment for keeping them well fed and happy. They aren't pets LOL. I am grateful to be getting any eggs but I am REALLY hoping they are not laying on the pond. I hope your chickies start paying rent soon!

 

[Papa Brooder]

Oh, miss molly, and everyone else... guess what I found today in my jubilee orp pen?!!! although it looked like a silkie egg that could have been mistaken for goat poop  in regard to size of expelled item to bird size, i am thinking I have my first jubilee egg!!  I ran it over to my broody.  i know, i shouldn't even try to hatch it but I couldn't help myself.  I don't think it's even fertile. mister man in the pen seems to be a late bloomer and not very interested in his first love... we will see in just a few days.  also my BLRWs blessed me with a couple of eggs as well. I even found one in my second SFH but I was thinking it may have rolled over from the BLRW pen because there has not been another egg since and that was almost a week ago, but there is at least an egg a day out of the wyandotte pen.

i started to make the list of what I am going to sell. so if anyone is wanting some chickens close to point of lay get ready... I need to make space.  i'm thinking the silver laced wyandottes have to go, a pair of BC Marans, some orps, all the "mixed"chicks that I ended up with... about 5-7 of them out of 100 but they were all supposed to be pure.. makes me wonder... still trying to get the list down to 10 or less: who's on for sure?: cream legbars (still my favorite so far) laying like champs, cool look, blue egg, auto sex...they are the top of the list. rhodebars pretty much same reason and not as common so will be fun to work with, swedish flower hens ( i like the look, i like land race, like personality, not liking laying so far.  we will see with my next batch but these first girls have been less consistent... still so pretty to look at and LOVE the variety.  Brahmas: not sure which colors I'll end up keeping but I just love the look of these guys.  They are so regal and just plain cool to watch. BLRW, so pretty and great personality. ORPs... here's where it all starts to go south.  love the orps. love the look, so puffy and cool.  flightier than i thought they would be.. but lemon cuckoo, lavender, BBS, jubilee, and gold laced.... gonna have to narrow down but how.... maybe the lavs and lemon cuckoos?  so hard ... marans: i have wheaton and BBS copper marans. leaning toward a small group with a splash roo over my black hens and blue hens ( just love the egg color, have to have it!).  Sussex: light, speckled.  ah man 4 more pens really?! may say goodbye to the light and just keep a few layers to look at because they are cool.silkies, sizzles, polish... have to keep one pen of each at least but how to choose the color. the combos are endless. they are fun to look at, easy to sell, the manage to die or get killed a lot so you need to have extra. definitely some of the stupidest chickens out there but always my favorite to hold and cart around with me. funny think is in that brain fart i probably forgot 5-7 breeds that I am actively working with: yep here they come: MF leghorns, faverolles, hamburgs, want to add.. 

ok too tired, hitting the wrong keys...mental brainstorm over, CL adds time to get rolling!

 

Don't forget the show-quality speckled flock you're getting from me today!!!...or did I let that out of the bag to early?  

Ha ha well that was what prompted all the musing in the first place. one pen is all ready. Now just deciding who gets moved out to make the second pen!

 

[ronott1]

Is anyone elses girls NOT laying very good right now (or is it just my hens)??
1. Barred rock didn't lay anything for a week and has been giving only soft shelled (useless) eggs for the last few days. She has oyster shells same as all the chickens-but won't eat them!

2. Buff orpington was broody, which we finally broke, but hasn't given us an egg for 3 weeks!
3. Rhode Island Red has slowed down to maybe 4 a week.
4. Our silkie is actually winning the 'egg contest' right now, giving us an egg almost every day!

The other morning we wanted eggs for breakfast, so I sent my son on an egg hunt. He came back with a cute, little silkie egg. Well-that was breakfast for him. Nothing beats a fresh laid egg! It's pretty pathetic when you have 4 laying hens and you have to buy eggs at the store.

They will lay soft shelled eggs when the new laying cycle starts. Often at the first molt you will not see too many feathers. The egg should get harder soon but to help, pick up some granulated kelp from a health food store. I mix in 1/2 cup for 5 or 6 pounds of feed. You can also mix the calcium in with the feed. That makes them eat it.

You should have 2 hens per person that eats eggs in your family. Do you want a couple of Production Reds?

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

A Necropsy will tell you what you need to do, so if you can't get to the store, send the body off with the husband and let him stop at a Fedex on his trip to Chico or whatever farm he is working at. Did you get the UCD Fedex account numbers? Megan said they will recharge you later at a big discount. For the two I have taken in there, I dropped them off.

The mud is probably not the problem but you never know.

Do the Bantum's get to see the other chickens? If not, you should put them either near the coop in a cage or put the cage in the coop. After a couple of days, put them into the coop at night.

If you keep them in the run and the run is open to the coop, they will usually head up to the roost by themselves. They will follow the other chickens up there. The roosters will call them too.

How many Duck eggs are you getting? My chickens are kicking into gear--They gave me 12 eggs yesterday which is the most yet.

Bye,

My husband gets to Chico at 6:50am. I don't think any Fed Ex's are open then? Is it too late to send it off? It's been in the fridge for like 5 days?

No the Bantam's do not get to see the others. The cage they are in is HUGE. It won't fit in the coop. I don't have anything smaller right now. It's about 3 feet tall, 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. It would take up way too much space and the chickens would roost on it (no where else to go) and poop on them. I have another cage but it's actually even larger than the one they are in.

The run has a door to the coop that I can close so I had thought to do that- close it. Put them in their by themselves during the day at at night with the rest of the chickens. I might be able to kind put the cage under the nest boxes. I need to see how high up we mounted the nest boxes to see if the cage can fit in there. It's the only other spot. The waterer is hanging along 1 wall, nesting boxes along another, my waterers (because I am not sure who is using the nipple waterers yet), my feeder hanging in the center- the only other way available is too short to handle the cage. ahhh!

I am getting 3 to 4 eggs a day right now. I swear some of them have to be laying on the stinking pond. Down side to having a pond!